Local fight promoter is KO'd by King

Bobby Hitz, left, says Don King agreed to give him a major role in the May 21 heavyweight championship fight here.

The local boxing promoter who lured Don King here in an attempt to energize the city's fight scene finds himself out of the ring as Mr. King promotes Chicago's first heavyweight championship fight since 1981.

Bobby Hitz says he had a "handshake agreement" with Mr. King  best known for managing, and occasionally being sued by, some of the sport's biggest names  that promised him a major role in the May 21 World Boxing Organization (WBO) heavyweight title fight now scheduled for the United Center. And Mr. King  who last year called Mr. Hitz his Chicago "protégé"  even put Mr. Hitz to work investigating and negotiating venue availability.

STRAIGHT TO WIRTZ

Ultimately, however, Mr. King dealt directly with United Center co-owner William Wirtz, cutting Mr. Hitz out. "Don came here because I asked him to," says Mr. Hitz, a former heavyweight fighter who has been Chicago's biggest promoter for most of a decade. "He specifically said he was going to do the fight with me. But it doesn't look like that's what happened, does it?"

Bob Goodman, Mr. King's vice-president for boxing operations, says the agreement with Mr. Hitz was only supposed to cover smaller-scale fights. "A partnership? Not on a fight of this magnitude," says Mr. Goodman.

The smaller-scale shows never happened. But Mr. King appeared to be working with Mr. Hitz on the championship fight, which features two of Mr. King's clients, WBO heavyweight champ Lamon Brewster and Chicago resident Andrew Golota. Mr. Hitz explored venues for the fight, including the United Center, in an attempt to book a date.

Mr. Goodman says Mr. Hitz wasn't promised anything. "By the time he got around to it, we already had a deal with Bill Wirtz," says Mr. Goodman. "These are our fighters, not his."